Harold Norse born 6 July 1916 (d. 2009)Harold Norse was an American writer, who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse has been widely published and anthologised.
Norse became a part of W H Auden's 'inner circle' at the age of 22 when he and his then boyfriend Chester Kallman - who was to become Auden's life partner - went to an Auden and Isherwood reading on the English pair's arrival in New York, but soon found himself allied with William Carlos Williams, who rated Norse the 'best poet of [his] generation'.
From 1954-59 he lived in Italy. He penned the experimental cut-up novel Beat Hotel in 1960 while living in Paris with William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. He returned to live in the US in 1969.
Memoirs of a Bastard Angel traces Norse's life and literary career with W H Auden, Christopher Isherwood, e e cummings, Tennessee Williams, William Carlos Williams, James Baldwin, Dylan Thomas, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Paul Bowles, Charles Bukowski, Robert Graves and Anaïs Nin.
With Carnivorous Saint: Gay Poems 1941-1976 Norse became a leading gay liberation poet. His collected poems, In the Hub of the Fiery Force, appeared in 2003.
Norse is a two-time NEA grant recipient, and National Poetry Association award winner. Norse received a BA from Brooklyn College (1938) and an MA from New York University (1951).
He lived in the Mission District of San Francisco for the last 35 years of his life.
Harold Norse died in San Francisco on 8 June 2009.
1 comments:
I just saw Harold Norse at the Beat Museum in San Francisco. He read clearly and with good voice and humor though he sometimes didn't notice when he was repeating himself. One of his younger friends says Norse is at a senior assisted living community and somewhat isolated. If you know & like his work you could write to him:
Harold Norse
c/o Hayes Valley Care
601 Laguna St, Rm 13
San Francisco CA 94102
As his friend says, "Harold's ability to stay strong and healthy is helped by outside contact ... being 91 is no walk in the park."
Post a Comment